Five by Five
by EspadaNumber4
Summary: New Hellmouth, it seems as good a place as any for Faith to start over. Has she really changed, or has she just been fooling. Old acquaintences and new allies come to light as a troubled Slayer finds her footing in a new city.


Faith swung her hips to the beat of the music. She raised her hands above her head and shook her hair wildly. There were several guys dancing close to her, but not so close as to be dancing with her. Maybe it was her wildly aggressive movement, or maybe it was just her. Slayers have a knack for being intimidating, and she was "the crazy one". So what if she was intimidating? One little invitation was all it would take to draw someone in. She looked over at one of the guys, six feet three, one-hundred and eighty pounds of muscle, spiky blond hair, dark brown eyes. He would do nicely.

She extended her hand, and he took it, pulling her in close. She turned away, backing into him as she did so. His body was firm agains her back. Slowly she shimmied her way down to the ground, then brought herself back up. Looking over her shoulder, Faith caught his eye. He put his arms around her waist and she grinded, body to body, pelvises locked.

A few minutes later they were at the bar. He turned from the bartender and to Faith, a shot in each hand.

"You're gorgeous." he said smoothly as he handed her a glass. She tossed it back and slammed the glass on the counter.

"Tell me something I don't know." She replied, her hand slipping under his shirt.

"I'm Nick." he said with a winning smile.

"I don't need to know your name. The way I see it, this conversation ends one of two ways. Either we part ways here and now, or you can come back to my place with me and we can end the night right. So what's it going to be lover? You in or out?"

"You're direct." he said with a smirk. He tossed his shot back then took her hand. "Fuck it, I'm in."

"Follow me." Faith avoided the mass of gyrating bodies on the dancefloor, going around to the exit. Outside was colder than she remembered. She led him out into an alley, streetlights revealed a path out onto the road, but they were hardly necessary. It was a cloudless, starless night, and a full moon bathed the world in a silver glow. As Faith made her way towards the mouth of the alley, she heard a growl from behind her. She turned to see three bikers just behind Nick. Vampires.

"Walk away." Faith said firmly.

"You're fiesty aren't you?" One of the bikers stepped forward and chuckled. "I like em' fiesty. I can't wait to watch the light in your eyes go out."

"Hey asshole, the lady said walk away." Nick chimed in, taking a step towards the three as he did so. The first biker punched him in the jaw and he fell to the ground.

"You should't have done that." Faith said. "Haven't you hear that the Slayer's in town?" All of the vamps growled at the mere mention of the word. "Better put your game faces on boys, cuz it's time for a whoopin." She reached into her jacket pocket and withdrew a stake. The faces of the bikers suddenly shifted. Their forheads became monstrously lumpy. Fangs protruded from their mouths and their eyes morphed into an inhuman shade of yellow. With a ferocious growl, the fight began.

All three vamps converged on Faith at the same time. One threw a punch, Faith ducked and thrust the stake through his heart. He instantly collapsed into a pile of dust. Another vamp took the opportunity to kick her in the stomach. She doubled over, but regained her composure quickly. She snapped her leg up, her heavy boot heel smashing into one of the vamps faces. Before he could recover the stake found his heart, and he was dust.

The last vamp tackled Faith to the ground. The two struggled for several moments until Faith found herself on top. "I told you to walk away." She said just before staking him. Faith climbed to her feet, brushing dust and dirt off of her clothes. The whole encounter lasted maybe fifteen seconds, but Faith's blood was definitley pumping. She headed back towards Nick, who had just bareley managed to find his feet.

"What...How...Are you okay?" He stammered.

"Five by five." She replied.


End file.
